The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXXI
Award-winning essays on courage written by sixth-eight grade students participating in The Max Warburg Courage Curriculum.
Award-winning essays on courage written by sixth-eight grade students participating in The Max Warburg Courage Curriculum.
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Shems Hafiani<br />
Sr. Sawsan Mezyan, Teacher<br />
Al-Noor Academy, Mansfield, MA<br />
<strong>The</strong> definition <strong>of</strong> courage varies from person to person based on their<br />
experiences. This can include bravery, helping others that are getting bullied,<br />
or going against stronger opponents even when the odds are against you. To<br />
me, courage has a different meaning: courage means doing what’s morally<br />
correct, even when no one agrees with you. Such an incident happened<br />
when I was ten.<br />
In September <strong>of</strong> 2020, when school started online for many, my school was<br />
also fully online. Most <strong>of</strong> the students had very limited interactions with each<br />
other, so many students made group chats. It seemed like a good idea until<br />
it took a vexatious turn. Several students started to use swears casually <strong>and</strong><br />
nonchalantly, <strong>and</strong> it was uncomfortable. Although this alone was bad, other<br />
group chats that included adult content arose.<br />
“To me, courage<br />
has a different<br />
meaning: courage<br />
means doing what’s<br />
morally correct,<br />
even when no one<br />
agrees with you.”<br />
I got in touch with one <strong>of</strong> these servers, <strong>and</strong> a lot <strong>of</strong> the students started to add<br />
people outside <strong>of</strong> school, such as strangers from the internet, several <strong>of</strong> which<br />
had pr<strong>of</strong>ane names. I knew that the right thing to do was to get a person <strong>of</strong><br />
authority involved, but with the brutality <strong>and</strong> cruelty <strong>of</strong> the students, I was<br />
nervous to do so. I sent it to the principal anyway.<br />
Many <strong>of</strong> the students were aggravated, sending death threats to the principal,<br />
<strong>and</strong> using extreme pr<strong>of</strong>anity against her. Eventually, the principal made<br />
announcements in the school regarding the topic, <strong>and</strong> the majority <strong>of</strong> the<br />
group chats got reported <strong>and</strong> eventually faded away.<br />
Looking back after around one year, I can only imagine what would have<br />
happened if the subject wasn’t brought into the principal’s concern. Would<br />
the students stop with time <strong>and</strong> mature? Would other students get exposed?<br />
Regardless <strong>of</strong> the other possibilities, I’m glad that I told the principal <strong>and</strong> got<br />
the problem fixed.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Courage</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Children</strong>: <strong>Boston</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Beyond</strong><br />
Volume <strong>XXXI</strong><br />
36 37
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